Sewing-machine.



No. 869,112. l PATENTBD 00T. z2. 1907.

SEWING MACHINE. PPLIUATION FILED 1111.511101.

llllllllll WWA/5835s v /A/VENTOH'- A TTUHNEY UNTTED sTATEs PATENToEEroE.

EDWIN J. TOOF, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

SE WING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907'.

application im January 5.1907. serial No. 350,897.

of an application iiled by William M. Ammerman, Oc-A tober 22, 1904,Serial No. 229,628. y

ln the machine of the aforesaid application a rotary looper having acontained bobbin-case and bobbin is -detachably connected to a rotarydrivei` at the under side of the sewing machine bed-plate, the saidlooper and bobbin-case both being open at their rear side to permit oftheinsertion and removal of a bobbin to and from a position within thebobbin-case upon the removal of the looper from connection with itsdriver and the said bobbin-case being provided at its front side with anopening for the insertion ol' the opcrators linger in ejecting thebobbin from the bobbin-case upon such removal ol' the looper from itsdriver. It has been found desirable, however, that said opening in the[ront wall of the bobbin-case should also be capable of being utilizedfor the insertion of the operators linger in conveniently and firmlygrasping the looper and vbobbing case in effecting the disconnection ofthe same from the looper driver; such use of said opening in the machineof the aforesaid application not having been readily permissible for thereason that a so-calle( bobbin-retainer carried by the looper driver ina position for engagement with the bobbin at its rear side operated tohold the bobbin in such close relation to the opening in the front wallof the bobbin-case as to prevent the entry of the operators lingerthrough said opening until subsequent to a partial outward withdrawal ofthe looper and bobbin-case from connection with the looper driver anduntil after a preliminary or initial grasping of the looper in effectingsuch partial withdrawal of the same. I

It has therefore been one of the main objects of my present invention toprovide a means whereby the operator may be permitted to enter a fingerinto the opening in the frontwall of the bobbin-case upon taking initialhold ol the looper and bobbin-case preparatory to withdrawing them fromconnection with the looperdriver.

In carrying my invention into elfect I provide a means for increasingthe distance between the :front wall of the bobbin-case, whichconstitutes one bobbinretainer, and the oppositely locatedbobbin-retainer attached to the looper-driver, preliminary to theoperators grasping thelooper and bobbincase for the purpose o1withdrawing them from connection with the looper-driver, whereby spacemay be provided for the entry ot the operators finger into the saidopening in the front wall of the bobbin-case in grasping the same. Suchincrease in distance between the oppositely located bobbin-retai/ners isprovided by rendering either one or both oi the retainers movable withrespect tothe other in a direction to vary the bobbin containing space.

therebetween; a means for rendering the retainers so movable beingillustrated in the accompanying drawings lorming part of thisspecification and set forth in the detailed description which follows. f

Referring now to the drawings, Figure l is a front end elevation of arotary looper and associated parts embodying my invention, together witha portion of a hanger at the under side of the sewing machine bed-platein which the looper driver is journaled at its forward end. Fig. 2 is afront end elevation of the looper-driverwith the looper and itscontained parts disconnected there-V from. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsectional elevation through the looper, loQper-driver, and associatedparts,

with the looper in locked connection with its driver.

Fig. 4 is a similar viewwith the looper partially withdrawn fromconnection with its driver and with the distance between thebobbin-retainers sufliciently increased'to permit of the entry of theoperators linger through the opening in thefront Wall of the bobbincasefor gripping engagement'with the latter.` Figs. 5

` and@ are views' similar to Figs. 3 andrei showing adiffen entembodiment of my invention.

In the drawings, 40 indicates a portion of a hanger at p the under sideof the sewing machine bed-plate in which is journaled a rotarydrivingshaft 13 having attached to its front end a head or disk 1S inthe face side of which is formed an open socket 19 adapted to receivethe attaching shank of a looper, the said rshaft 13 with its attached"lheader disk 18 constituting a looper driver. The looper shown in thepresent case for connection withthe said driver is what is commonlyknown as a hook and comprises a body portion 2 having afloopseizing beak3 and a central opening or lchamber l for the reception of a bobbin-case5, which latter is re-` tained: in operative connection with the hook inthe usual manner by means of a peripheral flange 6V thereon extendinginto a race-way groove 7 in the wall of the p said hook chamber 4 and isheld in a non-rotary` position with respect to the hook by means'of anarm 8 thereon loosely engaging a cooperating part on the needle-plate(not shown). I

The hook is provided at its rear side with a tubular shank 20 as a meansfor effecting connection with the driver disk 18, the said shank beingadapted to be a position for locking engagement with the hook shank 2()in a slot 27 therein and its opposite or operating end 28 extending to aconvenient position to be reached by the operator adjacent to theperiphery of the disk. placing the hook in operative connection with itsdriver, the beveled end 20 of the hook shank 20 in being entered intothe driver socket will engage with the inwardly projecting end 2.5 ofthe locking-lever 24 and force the same laterally outward whereby itwill ride upon the outer surface of the shank until the slot 27 in thelatter' has been brought into registry with it, at which time the leverwill automatically snap into the said slot under the action of asuitable spring, such as indicated at 30, and so operate to lock thehook in connection with the driver. To unlock the hook preparatory toits disconnection from the driver, it is only necessary for the operatorto press inwardly upon the face end of the locking lever, whichoperation removes its inner or locking end from locking position in theslot 27 of the hook shank.

In view of the detachable connection of the hook with its driver in themanner described, the usual bobbinretaincr latch at the front side ofthe bobbin-case is dispensed with. This is permitted by making both thehook and the bobbin-case open at their rear side in a positionregistering with the opening through the tubular attaching shank 20 ofthe hook whereby the bobbin, indicated at 11, may be entered to orremoved from its position in the bobbin-case at the rear side of thehook. With this construction of hook and bobbin-case, the latter willpreferably be provided with an inwardly turned bobbin-retaining flangeor wall 12 for engagement with the bobbin at the front side thereof andsuitable means will also be provided for engagement with the bobbin atits rear side so as to retain the same in operative position in thebobbin-case after the hook has been connected with its driver. The meansherein shown for so engaging with the bobbin at its rear side comprisesa retainer in the form of a screw 14 having a longitudinally adjustablescrew-threaded connection with the hook driver at the conter of itssocket 19. An important feature of this retainer is the fact that it maybe adjusted relatively to the bobbin-retaining wall 12 at the front sideof the bobbin-case so as to vary the space between the same toaccommodate bobbins of different lengths or sizes and also provide theproper clearance space between the said retainer and the adjacent end ofthe bobbin for the passage of the inner side of the needle-thread loopwhen the latter is being carried Aaround the bobbin by the hook in theusual manner,

The construction and operation of parts thus far described is the sameas that of the aforesaid application, and I will now proceed to describemy improvements as embodied in connection therewith. The operator, indisconnecting the looper and bobbin-case from the looper-driver in themanner heretofore accomplished7 grasps the looper at opposite sidesthereof between the thumb and finger and with the thumb in position forpressing the lever 24 inwardly' to release the looper, after whichreleasing operation is effected the operator withdraws the looper andcontained parts from connection with the looper-driver and then ejectsthe bobbin from the bobbin-case by the entry of the ringer through theopening 12 in the front of the bobbin-case. It is desirable however, ashereinbefore stated, that the operator may be permitted to enter afinger into said opening 12/ in the front wall of the bobbin-case forthe pui'- pose of conveniently and firmly grasping the same pre--paratory to disconnecting the looper and bobbin-case from thelooper-driver, and this may be permitted by increasing the distancebetween the retainers at opposite sides of the bobbin preliminary to theoperatprs grasping the loo per for the purpose of disconnecting it fromits driver. One means for effecting such preliminary increase ofdistance between the retainers, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, comprisesa spring 50 secured at one end to the inner wall of the driver socket19, as by means of a screw 51, with its opposite or free end arranged inposition to engage the rear end of the looper' shank 20, the said springbeing operative upon the release of the looper by its locking lever 24to automatically project the looper and its contained bobbin-caseforward a suflicient distance from the driver and the retainer 14supported thereby as to provide sufficient room for the entry of theoperators finger through the opening 12/ in the front of thebobbin-case, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the operator may firmly graspthe bobbin-case and looper preparatory to withdrawing them' fromconnection with the looper driver. By making the spring 50 of sufficientstrength, it may also be utilized, if so desired, to automaticallyeffect the complete ejection of the looper and bobbin-case fromconnection with the looper-driver upon the release of the looper by thelocking lever 24.

1n Figs. 5 and (i 1 have shown another means for increasing the distancebetween the oppositely-located bobbin-retainers preliminary to graspingthe looper and bobbin-case for effecting their withdrawal fromconnection with the looper-driver, which consists in inovably supportingthe retainer 14 in its normal operative bobbin-retaining position in amanner to permit of its being moved backward or in a direction away fromthe front bobbin-retainer 12, such backward movement being convenientlyaccomplished by the operator engaging the bobbin through the opening inthe front of the bobbin-case and pressing it backwardly against the saidretainer, in manner as clearly shown in F ig, G. The means shown in thepresent case for so supporting the retainer 14 comprises a head G0slidably supported within a counter-part opening in the forward end ofthe driver shaft 13 and carrying at its front end the retainer 14, thesaid head being limited in its movement within the shaft 13 by means ofa pin 61 thereon operating within a longitudinal slot G2 in the shaft13, and being yieldingly held in its normal operative position with thesaid pin Gl'at the forward end of the slot 62, as shown in Fig. 5, bymeans of a coiled spring G3 expanding between a shoulder 64 on the head60 and the inner end wall of the opening in the shaft 13. As a means formaintaining the adjustability of the retainer 14 with respect to thefront retainer 12, it has a screw-threaded connection with the head 6()in the same manner as it does with the driver shaft direct in theconstruction shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

What I claim is:

l. In a sewing machine, the combination of a rotary looper and :ibobbin-case and bobbin contained within saidV looper, the saidbobbin-case being open'at one side for the insertion and removal of abobbin and being.l provided at its opposite side with a finger-receivingopening, and bobbin-retainers for engaging a bobbin within thebobbin-case at opposite sides thereof, one of said retainers beingspring-controlled for endwise movement relatively to the other, for thepurpose set forth.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination of a rotary looper and abobbin-case and bobbin contained within said looper', the said looperand bobbin-case both being open at one side for the insertion andremoval of a bobbin to and from a position within the` bobbin-case andthe said bobbincase being provided at its opposite end with a bobbinretainer and with a nager-receiving,opening, and a bobbin re tainer atthat side of the bobbin opposite the tirstmentioned retainer and beingcooperative with the latter to hold the bobbin against undue endwisemovement therebetween, one of -said retainers being spl'ingcontrolledfor cndwise movement relatively to the other, for the purpose set forth.

Si. ln a sewing machine, the combination of a rotary looper and abobbin-case and bobbin contained within said looper. the said looper andbobbin-case both being open at their rear side for the insertion andremoval of a bobbin to and lroni a position within the bobbin-ease andthe said bobbin-case being provided at its front side with abobbinretainer and with a finger receiving opening, and a bobbinretainerat the rear side of the bobbin cooperative with the i'rstv mentionedbobbin-retainer to hold the bobbin against undue endwise movementtherebetween, one of said retainers being spi-ingeontrolled for endwisemovement rela tively to the other, for the purpose set forth.

4. ln a sewing machine, the combination of a rotary looper and abobbinxcase and bobbin contained within said looper, the said looper andbobbincase both being open at their rear side for the insertion andremoval of a bobbin to and from a position within the bobbin-case andthe said bobbiacase being provided at its front side with abobbinretainer and with a tinger-receiving opening, and a bobbinreiainersupported independent of the bobbinease at the re: side ol" theV bobbinand being coperative with the first mentioned bobbin-retainer to holdthe bobbin against undue endwise movement therebetween, one o1 saidretainers being springcontrolled for endwise movement relatively to.

the other, for the purpose set forth. y

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary looper-driver, ofa looper detachably connected with said driver and having a bobbin-caseand bobbin supported therein, the said looper and bobbin-case both beingopen at their rear side for the insertion and removal of the bobbin toand from a position within the bobbin-case and the said bobbin-casebeing provided at its front side with a bobbin-retainer and with atlngera-eceiving opening, and a bobbinaetainer carried by thelooper-driver in position at the rear side of the bobbin and beingcoperative with the iirst mentioned bobbin-retainer to hold the bobbintherebetween, one of said retainers being springcontrolled ior endwisemovement relatively to the other, for the purpose set forth.

G, In a sewing machine, the combination with a rotary looper-driver, ofa looper detachably connected with said driver and having a bobbin-caseand bobbin supported therein, the said looper and bobbin-case both beingopen at their rear side for the insertion and removal of the bobbin toand from a position within the bobbin-case and the said bobbin-casebeing provided at its front side with a bobbin-retainer and with aiingenreceiving opening. and a bobbin-retainer' carried by thelooper-drver in position at the rear side of the bobbin and beingcooperative with the first mentioned bobbin-retainer to hold the bobbintherebetween, locking means i'or detachably holding the looper and itssupported bobbin-case and bobbin in connection with the looperdriver,and means for automatically moving the looper and bobbin-case in adirection outwardly from the driver-supported-bobbin-retainer upon therelease ot' the looper by its locking means, for the purpose set forth.

7. ln a sewing machine, the combination of a rotary looper-driver, alooper supporting a bobbin-case and bobbin and having a shank slidablyconnected with said driver, locking means for detaehably holding thelooper in connection with its driver', and means for automaticallydisconnecting the looper from the driver upon the release of the looperby its locking means.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York,this 2G day of December, A. D. 1906.

EDWIN J. TOOF.

Witnesses z CHAs. F. DANE, M. E. STANTON.

